After the railroad construction and the gold rush ended in British Columbia, many Chinese people settled in Calgary, with its first Chinatown being incorporated in 1884. By 1911, only three of the 485 Chinese Calgarians were women because of the head tax and the bachelor societies it created. In 1932, Mrs. Lem Kwong led the development of the Mother’s Club to support Chinese families facing racial, language and economic barriers. Renamed the Women’s Mission Circle in 1936, the group provided food to unemployed community members, taught English, and, after discriminatory Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed, helped families reunite through immigration and citizenship support.

Sources:

• The Women of Chinatown - Heritage Calgary;
• Chinese Immigration Act - The Canadian Encyclopedia

Japanese Canadian educator and activist Hide Hyodo Shimizu helped ensure Japanese Canadian children could continue their education after the forced removal and confinement of their communities during the Second World War. One of the first nisei teachers in British Columbia, she also spoke out for Japanese Canadian voting rights before the war and later became supervisor of education in government-run camps, where she set up schools, trained teachers and secured learning resources despite resistance from authorities. After the war, she continued her community advocacy, supported the Japanese Canadian redress movement and received national recognition for her work, including being appointed to the Order of Canada.

Sources:

• Hide Hyodo Shimizu (1908 – 1999) - Canada.ca
• 1936 scrapbook from the Hide Hyodo Shimizu collection: Treasures from the Vault, Episode 4

Mary Two‑Axe Earley (1911–1996) was a Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawk) Elder and human rights activist who played a key role in challenging gender discrimination in Canada’s Indian Act. Her decades of advocacy work helped expose how the law stripped Indigenous women of status and rights and contributed to Bill C‑31 (1985), which allowed many women to regain their status. She is remembered as a pioneer of Indigenous women’s rights and was named a National Historic Person of Canada in 2025.

Sources:

• Mary Two-Axe Earley | The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Women in Canadian History: Mary Two-Axe Earley | Historica Canada

From 1946 to 1953, Chief David Crowchild served as Chief of the Tsuut’ina Nation. During his leadership, he worked to improve infrastructure, create jobs and support education and farming on the reserve. He was also known for promoting understanding between Indigenous and non‑Indigenous communities and for his involvement in rodeo and Stampede events.

Sources:

• Alberta Online Encyclopedia - Treaty 7 - The Tsuu T'ina Nation Profiles - David Crowchild
• Chief David Crowchild (1899-1982) - Alberta Champions Society;
• Our History | Tsuut'ina

In 1914, Charles Daniels sued the Sherman Grand Theatre (now The GRAND) in Calgary after being denied his floor seat for the play King Lear and being directed to the “coloured section.” Although the lawsuit’s outcome is unknown, it is considered one of Alberta’s earliest civil rights cases.

Sources:

• The Charles Daniels Story - The GRAND;
• Calgary’s Unknown Civil Rights Champion - The Sprawl

Lulu Anderson was a Black civil rights activist in Edmonton who challenged racial segregation in 1922 after being denied entry a theatre because of her race. Although she lost the case, it exposed and reinforced discriminatory practices in Alberta.

Sources:

• Canadian civil rights trailblazers | CMHR
• Video: Beyond The Barrier: The Life of Lulu Anderson

In 1959, Theodore (Ted) King challenged racial discrimination after being denied accommodation at a Calgary motel for being a Black man. He was also active in the Alberta Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, supporting efforts to address racism and discrimination.

Sources:

• Ted King - The Canadian Encyclopedia